Addons Documentation

This section of the documentation contains specific documentation for our first party add-ons to Perch - Apps, Plugins, Dashboard Widgets, Feathers, Translations and Field Types.

Perch Add-ons 101

We try to keep the core of Perch and Runway light, then offer additional functionality by way of our add-ons. This means your content editors don’t have to wade through unwanted functionality to edit their site. Add-ons which expose additional template tags or functionality behave as much as possible in a consistent way to the rest of Perch.

You will find sections for each add-on that exposes functions in the Functions reference, and add-ons which expose additional template tags can be found in the Apps section of the Template Reference, refer to these as you create templates and pages to use with an add-on. The pages in this section of the documentation include example code and other information about using add-ons.

Types of add-ons

Apps: these are the bigger pieces of functionality such as Blog or Shop. Most Apps add additional Control Panel functionality and then functions and template tags for output to your site.

Plugins: you can add alternate WYSIWYG editors to content areas by way of a plugin

Dashboard Widgets: the Perch Dashboard is extensible so you can add additional functionality here.

Feathers: a method of packing front-end code for inclusion in your site.

Translations: the entire Perch Control Panel can be translated, add a translation so your content editor can work in their own language.

Field Types: these add additional template tag types which you can then use when creating templates.

Installing add-ons

Depending on the add-on installation may be as straightforward as dropping a file into your Perch install, or may have a number of steps to follow. Check the individual add-on pages for details.

Add-ons which create database tables will manage their installation for you, typically you need to go to the add-on page in the Control Panel and installation will be run.

Updating add-ons

As with Perch itself, we try to keep add-on updates as simple as replacing the add-on folder in your Perch install. It is always worth checking the update notes however just in case there is something more that needs doing such as a template update.

Creating your own add-ons

All of the official add-ons have been created using the public Perch API. If there is something you want to add to Perch you can use that API to create your own functionality. Take a look at the API Documentation to get started.